Blog & Press

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2021 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Preview

        For the first time ever, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will be the season finale of the NTT IndyCar Series Championship. With the prior two races happening on the West Coast in Portland and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the vast majority of teams based in Indianapolis have not been home for about 3 weeks. Will that provide an opportunity for crews or drivers…

Vision Up!

        Vision up. Eyes up. High horizon. These are words you’ll typically hear your instructor say to you from the beginning ‘till the end of your time at Fast Lane Racing School. The reason being is that by looking far ahead, you can buy yourself something priceless – time! Whether you’re enrolled in the Defensive Driving Academy, High Performance or SCCA, Executive Protection or EVOC law enforcement class, the “vision…

Fitness Focus—Nobody Likes a Pain in the Neck!

        Are race car drivers athletes? You bet! Anyone who’s spent some time behind the wheel on the racetrack can certainly tell you that you’ll be worn out at the end of a long day. Elevated heart rate, sweat rate, arm pump and more all contribute to fatigue. In this installment, we’ll focus on the neck muscles and the beating they take on the race track.     In physical…

Back To School Track Day @ Big Willow

     It was a great day on Saturday, September 4, 2021 when Fast Lane Racing School hosted a track day for former students, friends and family. Also included were racers from the Sports Car Club of America’s Cal Club region and from the Vintage Auto Racing Association. All those present got together to spend time pounding laps around the “Fastest Road in the West” – Willow Springs International…

What’s My Line, Part II

     In part one; we looked at the “racing line” in the textbook design of a long straight followed by a 90 degree corner followed by another long straight. We looked at how the theoretical and geometric “lines” are similar. In part two, we’ll get into corner combinations and more.     “Don’t use the brakes, they only slow you down!” While that statement is true, on a closed…

What’s My Line?

   One of the most fundamental aspects of safe and fast driving is making sure that you’re driving on the “proper line.” There are theoretical and geometrical lines to take through corners on the road and turns on the race track. Which is the best one for you? If you have two identical radius 90 degree corners, is the line the same through each one? Not necessarily. This is…

Taking Your Braking to the Next Level

    In the last blog post we focused on ABS. Today we’ll look at non-ABS brakes for track use. Techniques for braking on the track vary greatly depending upon the kind of race car you’re driving. Even though we’ve used the brakes all our lives, braking technique is critical for not only making passes in competition, but also lowering lap times and influencing how the car handles. First, let’s…

History of VARA

      Vintage Auto Racing Association (VARA) is a long-established organization devoted to racing vintage cars. The rules generally require that the cars racing with VARA be more than 20 years old. In theory, a 2001 car could now be considered vintage. However, most of the cars VARA members race are from th heyday of road racing in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. More modern cars can be seen in the…

ABS – Always Be Steering!

     Why use the brakes? They only slow you down! Of course I’m kidding when I say that. Using the brakes is an everyday occurrence whether you’re driving on the race track, the street, or even on your bicycle. Even though we know that pressing the brake pedal slows you down, there are nuances to be learned and understood in order to become a better driver. Today we’ll…

Heart Rate Training for Motorsports Part II

  In the last blog, we discussed the basics of how the monitors work and how you can use them in your race car to track where your heart rate goes during a race. Today, we’ll take a closer look at training zones and actual heart rate data. Once you’ve found your maximum heart rate, you can then start looking at training zones with zone 1 being the easiest…

Heart Rate Training for Motorsports

   Auto racing has always been a sport known for pushing the limits to the extreme to gain a winning advantage. In today’s arena, it’s all about data. Engineers track vehicle speed, rpm, g-force and a multitude of other data to help improve the set-up of the car to ultimately lead the driver to a quicker lap time. But what about the driver? For less than you might think we can track…

2021 Indianapolis 500 Recap, How the Race was Won

If you were fortunate enough to watch the Indy 500, you witnessed one of the best races ever. Every “500” has 33 unique stories but only one winner – and in this case it turned out to be a (now) four-time winner in Helio Castroneves. Are you interested in driving an Indy car? Take a look at our race car rental program – we have Indy lights cars that…